I've seen "The Third Man" a couple of times, and loved it. I believe the recurring music is performed by a harpsichord, but whatever instrument it is, really adds to the visual pace of parts of the movie.

How can you mention Baraka without reference to the Daddy of such movies - the fantastic Koyaanisqatsi (and the other two movies in the trilogy Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi)? Koyaanisqatsi directed by Gdfrey Reggio and filmed by Ron Fricke with amazing music by Philip Glass is the original in this genre. Without Koyaanisqatsi, Baraka would never have happened. Also Baraka comes across to me as a random collection of unrelated images whereas Koy... has a flow and a consistancy that makes it stand head and shoulders above anything else of its type. The Qatsi trilogy is also touring still with Philip Glass's ensemble providing a "Live" soundtrack. I would implore everybody to see Koy... its a life-changing experience for many.Regs, Nigels.

"The director knew that the film's musical score could not be reflective of the traditional Old Vienna - waltz music by Strauss. Instead, it would be provided by a solo instrument -- a zither. The jaunty but haunting musical score by Viennese composer/performer Anton Karas lingers long after the film's viewing with its twangy, mermerizing, lamenting, disconcerting (and sometimes irritating) hurdy-gurdy tones. In fact, Karas' musical instrument was a leading film character and advertised as such: "He'll have you in a dither with his zither (a laptop string instrument)." The insistent, chilling music sets a mood of polarized dislocations in the world (e.g., war and play, men and children) and in the corrupted city's 'no-man's-land' environment (with its bombed out, war-torn ruins, dark and slick streets, cemeteries and sewers criss-crossing beneath the sectored zones)."

While I can't say that I've seen many, or any of his list, I'd thought I would throw in "Out of Africa." While I've seen many movies that were beautiful to watch over the years, "Out of Africa" is the first and only where I have come away actually talking about how the cinematogphrapher had taken time with scenes that were just plain gorgeous! And served only to show how beautiful that wonderful expanse of nothing but nature can be. I was also fortunate enough to see that movie on the BIG screen, what an experience! Maybe someday . . .